A few days ago the House killed a proposal that would have prevented pharmaceutical companies from marketing new drugs directly to the public for the first two years after they are approved. Drug makers breathed a sigh of relief at the news, but the larger message may still be the same, regardless of the outcome: Makers of drugs and medical devices will need to find creative ways to get their message out to an increasingly distracted and suspicious public. (One industry professional who's carrying that particular banner is John Mack of the Pharma Marketing Blog -- read it, it's good.)
I admit it -- I flip past the pharmaceutical ads in magazines and tend to tune them out on TV. Yet even before I started working at OrganizedWisdom, I was passionately interested in new medical developments that affect specific conditions, not just for myself but for my friends and relatives.
At the same time, I know it's important not to take marketing information at face value. I remember when my father-in-law had lung cancer, and some family members wanted me to investigate really sketchy reports they'd seen on TV or on the Internet. Their motives were pure -- they wanted him to be well -- but in that frame of mind it was all too easy for them to be misled.
As a consumer, I want to receive complete and responsible health information, even from people who are trying to sell me something. I'm much more likely to give that information my full attention if I'm already perusing related material -- for instance, reading a health blog, whether it's by a physician advocate like Kevin, M.D. or a patient advocate like The Assertive Cancer Patient.
Is there a role for marketing in this kind of media consumption? Perhaps. As a blogger and patient, I want to be free to say what I think and talk publicly about my experiences with illness and treatment. Marketers, particularly in this realm, are used to having more control over the environments in which their messages appear, and are not used to dealing directly with customers' questions and concerns.
An honest, innovative, patient-focused marketer might well find a way to make this new Web world work. Here at OrganizedWisdom, we're starting out by bringing together information that makes patients' lives better. I can promise that that will always be my first priority.
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